it's knowledge...

a knowledge at first virtuous
lacking malice or greed
eyes clear and clean like the rain
against ones face that cleanses
the body without destroying the mind
but the knowledge spoils for one
who opens their eyes in the storm
who finds the crops harvested without
thought of the next season taken
into account, so as the fruit rots
the soul rots with no one to care
for its alarming growth in numbness

it's power...

a power that mounts you like a steed
it pulls back on the thick reins
to force your head back
like a lover deep in the throws of passion
it kisses you forcefully
capturing your attention with a nip
on the lip, but its too late
too late to realize the mistake
the terrible mistake made
your body is its and its alone
not yours or any others
but its sweet slave.

it's cruelty...

yes, sweet and delicious cruelty
that rests its cold hand on your shoulder
and shears you from the world
it's a slap across your warm, living face
it's what ties you down with frozen silk
that accents your eyes, it throws
its blurry face back into the darkness
to rape you of your good will
to ravage you of your kind words
and a sober, gentle heart and you cry
because you can't even stop it
when it takes you over and over again

it's lust...

a lust that pulls hard on your strings
to encite pain and longing in you
that would pull you under its wave
would drown you in its embrace
would give you up to its consuming rage
and would caress you with thoughts
of reuniting or revenge, sumptuous and sweet
to push through with wanton fingers
tearing all knowledge away but that of they
who became one with you and so to others
you raise bitter steel gripped in sallow hands
driving home with an intoxicating thrust

it's madness...

that burns all bridges
in a dead heat lingering
on your face in the night
that lifts you up
by the gravity of the moon
weighed down on your back
all you see is red and no,
there is nothing to care for
when in her feral arms
that like a thick fog
surrounds and blankets you
in a perfect craze

it's numbness...

a lack of true feeling
that spreads though your arteries
drawing you into a cold
and bitter winter of your nerves
a dull and whirring reality
that denies the outside world
entry to your emaciated mind
leaving you in the night
with a revelation of your own
that you are hidden from the light
those who would help dare not venture
to seek for you in the merky, icy water

it's a cry...

a strained and hollow voice
from under the ice
that rises like a bloated body
dead in the river
you scream and you scream
but not many can hear it
above the din of the city
that captures their minds
and captures their souls
with tempting gilded hands
glittering in the numbing
brilliant colours of the neon light

it's an alarm...

the sounds out in the darkness
it rings with all its strength
with all its electric heart
so that it may save you
you weep as you recall
the bastards who put you there
with the realization that the fault
falls first on the world and then
on you, for you offered no resistance
when taking their breaths into
your collection plate without thought
or remembrance of their glittering faces

it's truth...

truth bound in pewter chains
saluted by the few who recognize it
who bear up its name like a flame
deep in the darkness to search out
those left with gold crowns unbroken
by the harsh erosion of black acid
an acid born of the mind and the past
to destroy the furture with gleaming teeth
and gleaming claws to stab into the core
of those struggling kings and queens
those who strive still for peace
who strive still for those untouched

it's sorrow...

penetrating, unabiding sorrow
that weighs down those gilden royalty
with ratted robes and tarnished rings
all forged with the thought of yesterday
the all-encompassing loneliness
inspired by self-doubt and despair
who with all their might decimated
any who would let them into their minds
and would give no rebirth
to their dying red bodies
and give no flight
to their dusty red wings

it's guilt...

a powerful consuming regret
born of the truth and the sorrow
that chases you into the past
that runs wild to keep you
locked in its iron cage
that rusts over from your tears
and infects you once again
as if to drive you into madness
and destroy all remembrance of
sweet things, growing things
loving things that leave an imprint
on your cheek of their kindness

it's memory...

driving you through yesterday
wrapping its arms around you
its fingers playing with your hair
it pets you to keep you within itself
to encompass your mind thoroughly
in it as if nothing else were real
only it and its love is true to you
it blinds you with cerulean gloved hands
so you can't take a step without its help
and are paralyzed without its persistance
searching with calloused fingers
through the ether muddled world

it's death...

a sleep resident in love
a love you meant to have
that would flow from you
as if to shape the world
with its mighty current
but, you've done what you can
you've given your life to it
as you cry in its arms and
let it comfort your burdens away
as much as it could without
disturbing your silence or solemnity
and then left with your breath.